This invention relates to the field of animal husbandry, and particularly to apparatus for quickly and conveniently applying indentifying markings to domestic animals.
The custom of branding animals in a herd to indicate a common ownership has long been recognized. With more refined methods of husbandry, it becomes desirable that each animal in a herd bear in an individual mark by which it can be identified. The most common identifying characters are the arabic numerals, although alphabetical characters may also be used.
It is to be borne in mind that when a multi-digit number must be used, the animal does not readily tolerate application of the digits one after another: for practical success, any numbering must be accomplished as a single operation. This, of course, results in a need for a marking device which is easily and conveniently reset to a new configuration of plural digits after each use.